A leak was discovered in the hull of the William Inglis, a 400-passenger boat, said Tanya Kavcic, an operations support officer in the city’s parks, forestry and recreation department.

It had been kept in service because the Ongiara, a steel-hulled ferry for passengers and vehicles, is currently in dry dock for servicing.

“Ongiara is scheduled to come out of dry dock tomorrow or Friday so we can restore normal service,” Kavcic said.

Until it does, however, those looking to get on and off the island are relying on a single bus that shuttles them to the Billy Bishop Airport. The bus then waits for a break in takeoffs and landings and drives across the tarmac to the airport’s ferry, said Steve Cooper, who has lived on the island for 15 years.

“This is an essential service for a lot of people,” he said, adding he was two hours late for work this morning. “The issue here is a bigger pattern of mismanagement at the ferry docks.”

Cooper said residents are informed of problems with the ferries through word of mouth.

“The ferry docks will call one woman and she posts it for the whole island to know,” he said. “Communication is terrible.”

Cooper said as of now, they’ve been told to wait for bus service back to the island next to the washroom in Little Norway Park. The schedule, he said, is irregular.

The Toronto Port Authority said they have waived all passenger fees for residents.

Students at the Island Public/Natural Science School have had classes relocated to Market Lane Junior and Senior Public School on The Esplanade. A spokesperson for the school said this was the solution for today, but it wasn’t clear what they would be doing tomorrow.

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